editorNPR Digital Services RSS Generator 0.94Dan Charles is NPR's food and agriculture correspondent.Primarily responsible for covering farming and the food industry, Charles focuses on the stories of culture, business, and the science behind what arrives on your dinner plate.This is his second time working for NPR; from 1993 to 1999, Charles was a technology correspondent at NPR. He returned in 2011.During his time away from NPR, Charles was an independent writer and radio producer and occasionally filled in at NPR on the Science and National desks, and at Weekend Edition. Over the course of his career Charles has reported on software engineers in India, fertilizer use in China, dengue fever in Peru, alternative medicine in Germany, and efforts to turn around a troubled school in Washington, DC.In 2009-2010, he taught journalism in Ukraine through the Fulbright program. He has been guest researcher at the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg, Germany, and a Knight Science JournalismNPR Digital Services RSS Generator 0.94Dan CharlesTue, 25 Oct 2016 04:56:11 +0000Dan Charleshttp://wshu.org
Dan CharlesNobody loves pesticides, exactly. But one kind of pesticide, called neonicotinoids, is provoking a particularly bitter debate right now between environmentalists and farmers. The chemicals are highly toxic to bees. Some scientists think they are partly to blame for the decline in pollinators.For the past year, the province of Ontario, in Canada, has responded to the controversy with a novel experiment. Ontario's government is asking farmers to prove that they actually need neonicotinoids, often called neonics. It turns out that "need" is a word that's hard to define.The experiment has its roots in a mass killing of bees in 2012."It was a very early spring," recalls Tibor Szabo, a beekeeper who lives near the city of Guelph. Warm days meant early blossoms on trees, and as a result, honeybees were out collecting pollen while farmers planted their corn and soybeans nearby.Szabo started hearing reports from beekeepers in the southeastern corner of the province that their bees were getting Cut Down On Bee-Killing Pesticides? Ontario Finds It's Easier Said Than Donehttp://wshu.org/post/cut-down-bee-killing-pesticides-ontario-finds-its-easier-said-done
57597 as http://wshu.orgTue, 18 Oct 2016 22:44:00 +0000 Cut Down On Bee-Killing Pesticides? Ontario Finds It's Easier Said Than DoneDan CharlesLast summer, I went on Morning Edition to talk about the quest for a great-tasting tomato. And at the very end of the conversation, I confidently declared that no one should ever put tomatoes in the refrigerator. It kills the taste, I said. That's what I'd heard from scientists and tomato growers alike. Afterwards, I heard from several friends. It seems I'd taken sides in a domestic dispute that has long divided husbands and wives. Someone on Twitter also pointed out a blog post that seemed to contradict my statement. I'll say more about that later.First, some new science: There's a laboratory at the University of University of Florida, in Gainesville, that has been at the forefront of research on tomato taste. Scientists there have been studying the chemical makeup of great-tasting tomatoes, as well as the not-so-great tasting ones at supermarkets."There's a lot of things wrong with tomatoes right now," says Denise Tieman, a Research Associate Professor there. "We're trying to fixForget Tomayto/Tomahto: The Real Debate Is, Should It Be Refrigerated?http://wshu.org/post/forget-tomaytotomahto-real-debate-should-it-be-refrigerated
57531 as http://wshu.orgMon, 17 Oct 2016 19:20:00 +0000Forget Tomayto/Tomahto: The Real Debate Is, Should It Be Refrigerated?Dan CharlesAbout one-third of all the food produced globally is either lost or wasted. Pests and infections destroy fruits and vegetables. Grains often rot in storage or during transport. And then there's food in consumers' kitchens and refrigerators that doesn't get eaten, and eventually discarded.Such losses amount to more than $900 billion globally, according to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization.Reducing this wastage could save money and help meet the world's growing demand for food. And people are finally starting to try and do this — we've reported before on a number of such efforts here in the USA.But the best-documented success in reducing food waste is taking place in the United Kingdom.According to Liz Goodwin, formerly CEO of the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), a non-profit organization in the UK, most food waste in the UK happens at home, and there are two main reasons for it: People don't get around to eating perishable food in time; or they cook too much andIn Fight Against Food Waste, Brits Find A Worthy Battlefield: The Homehttp://wshu.org/post/fight-against-food-waste-brits-find-worthy-battlefield-home
57455 as http://wshu.orgSat, 15 Oct 2016 12:19:00 +0000In Fight Against Food Waste, Brits Find A Worthy Battlefield: The HomeDan CharlesFarmers, more than anyone else, manage America's land and water. They grow crops or graze cattle on more than half of the country's land outside of Alaska."Farming has huge impacts on water. Huge impacts on wildlife. It has big impacts on air, especially from animal feeding operations," says Craig Cox, senior vice president for agriculture and natural resources at the Environmental Working Group, or EWG, a nonprofit environmental organization. Agriculture, for example, has been blamed for algae blooms in Lake Erie, high levels of nitrates in Iowa's rivers and a giant "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico. Plowing and draining the Great Plains to make way for crops has driven many species of animals, like the black footed ferret, closer to extinction.Yet according to many environmentalists, the federal government does little to regulate farmers. If anything, they say, the government makes things worse by providing subsidies that cushion farmers from the impact of low prices, encouragingWe Pay Billions For Greener Farms, So What Does That Buy Us?http://wshu.org/post/we-pay-billions-greener-farms-so-what-does-buy-us
57355 as http://wshu.orgThu, 13 Oct 2016 11:00:00 +0000We Pay Billions For Greener Farms, So What Does That Buy Us?Dan CharlesMost of America's poultry producers have been promising to cut back on the use of antibiotics in recent years. One of them, however, has consistently led the way. Perdue Farms, based on Maryland's Eastern Shore, began getting rid of antibiotics from feed in 2007, eliminated the drugs from its hatcheries in 2014, and last year it announced that more than half of its chickens received no antibiotics at all.This week, Perdue announced that it has ended the routine use of all antibiotics in its entire operation. It only resorts to the use of antibiotics when chickens are getting sick. According to the company, that happens to about 5 percent of its flocks. That leaves 95 percent of the company's production eligible to be sold under the label "no antibiotics ever."Public health groups and government regulators are worried that overuse of antibiotics will lead to more drug-resistant infections in humans.In response, several large poultry companies, including Tyson Foods, have promised toPerdue Goes (Almost) Antibiotic-Freehttp://wshu.org/post/perdue-goes-almost-antibiotic-free
57151 as http://wshu.orgFri, 07 Oct 2016 18:12:00 +0000Perdue Goes (Almost) Antibiotic-FreeDan CharlesFor all the international furor over genetically modified food, or GMOs, the biotech industry has really only managed to put a few foreign genes into food crops.The first of these genes — actually, a small family of similar genes — came from a kind of bacteria called Bacillus thuringiensis, or Bt. Those genes make plants poisonous to certain insect pests.These genes are a pillar of the entire industry. But that pillar is wobbling. Three of the four Bt genes that are supposed to fend off one particularly important pest, the corn rootworm, are showing signs of failure. Corn rootworms have evolved resistance to them.But the biotech companies say not to worry. More genes are on the way.This week, a team of scientists from DuPont Pioneer announced in the journal Science that they'd discovered a new rootworm-killing gene.They found it by searching through the countless bacteria that live in the soil, looking for one that is lethal to the corn rootworm. Many have carried out such searches andAs a GMO Pillar Wobbles, Biotech Companies Promise New Insect-Killing Geneshttp://wshu.org/post/gmo-pillar-wobbles-biotech-companies-promise-new-insect-killing-genes
56579 as http://wshu.orgThu, 22 Sep 2016 20:59:00 +0000As a GMO Pillar Wobbles, Biotech Companies Promise New Insect-Killing GenesDan CharlesNo chemical used by farmers, it seems, gets more attention than glyphosate, also known by its trade name, Roundup. That's mainly because it is a cornerstone of the shift to genetically modified crops, many of which have been modified to tolerate glyphosate. This, in turn, persuaded farmers to rely on this chemical for easy control of their weeds. (Easy, at least, until weeds evolved to become immune to glyphosate, but that's a different story.)Glyphosate had been considered among the safest of herbicides. So it was a shock to many, last year, when the International Agency for Research on Cancer announced that this chemical is probably carcinogenic.Since that announcement, however, others have looked at the same collection of data and come to contrary conclusions. The European Food Safety Agency convened a group of experts who concluded that glyphosate probably does not cause cancer. So did the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization.Now the Environmental Protection Agency has issued itsEPA Weighs In On Glyphosate, Says It Doesn't Cause Cancerhttp://wshu.org/post/epa-weighs-glyphosate-says-it-doesnt-cause-cancer
56348 as http://wshu.orgSat, 17 Sep 2016 13:49:00 +0000EPA Weighs In On Glyphosate, Says It Doesn't Cause CancerDan CharlesCopyright 2016 NPR. To see more, visit MONTAGNE, HOST: Bayer, the German company that makes aspirin made a big announcement this morning. It is buying Monsanto, the biotech pioneer based in St. Louis. The deal is huge, valued at $66 billion dollars. And if it goes through, approved by regulators, the combined companies will be one of the largest Agri-chemical companies in the world. Joining us now is NPR's Dan Charles who is on a reporting trip to a big agricultural show in Canada. Good morning. DAN CHARLES, BYLINE: Good morning, Renee. MONTAGNE: Now, this is just the latest deal among the big agricultural companies. This industry seems to be consolidating rapidly. CHARLES: It is actually a remarkable wave of consolidation. There are three deals currently in the works. You know, DuPont and Dow are trying to merge. A company called Syngenta which is a big pesticide company based in Switzerland is being bought by the China National Chemical Corporation, and now comes Bayer buyingBayer To Buy Monsanto For $66B, Part Of A Trend Of Consolidation In Big Aghttp://wshu.org/post/bayer-buy-monsanto-66b-part-trend-consolidation-big-ag
56210 as http://wshu.orgWed, 14 Sep 2016 14:14:00 +0000Bayer To Buy Monsanto For $66B, Part Of A Trend Of Consolidation In Big AgDan CharlesLike so many brilliant innovations, the idea seems obvious in hindsight. Just combine college, coffee, and chemical engineering. Of course!But no one, apparently, hit upon this magic formula until a few years ago, when William Ristenpart and Tonya Kuhl, two engineering professors at the University of California, Davis, started discussing ways to give young undergraduates a hands-on introduction to their new discipline. Engineering programs are creating such experiences in order to fight attrition; too many of these so-called STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) students have been dropping out after a steady diet of mathematics in the first years of college.Kuhl "had the idea of taking apart a Mr. Coffee coffeemaker" to study how the designers solved the small-scale engineering challenge of brewing coffee," says Ristenpart. As they talked, it dawned on Ristenpart that every aspect of coffee-making matched a major topic in the chemical engineering curriculum.ThinkSTEM To Steam: How Coffee Is Perking Up Engineering Educationhttp://wshu.org/post/stem-steam-how-coffee-perking-engineering-education
55979 as http://wshu.orgThu, 08 Sep 2016 19:14:00 +0000STEM To Steam: How Coffee Is Perking Up Engineering EducationDan CharlesIn the ferocious, sprawling brawl over genetically modified crops, one particular question seems like it should have a simple factual answer: Did those crops lead to more use of pesticides, or less?Sadly, there's no simple answer.Pesticides include both insecticides and herbicides. Backers of GMOs point to the example of crops containing new genes that fight off insect pests, so farmers don't have to spray insecticides. Biotech critics point to the example of crops that have been altered to tolerate specific weedkillers, like glyphosate, thus encouraging farmers to rely more heavily on those herbicides.This week, scientists at Iowa State made a fresh attempt to answer this question. It's based on the most detailed data ever assembled to examine the issue. Those data came from a private company, which gathered information about the farm practices of 5,000 randomly selected farmers who grew corn and soybeans, the two most widely planted crops in the country. That information allowedHow GMOs Cut The Use Of Pesticides — And Perhaps Boosted It Againhttp://wshu.org/post/how-gmos-cut-use-pesticides-and-perhaps-boosted-it-again
55687 as http://wshu.orgThu, 01 Sep 2016 16:43:00 +0000How GMOs Cut The Use Of Pesticides — And Perhaps Boosted It AgainDan CharlesIt's been four years since scientists first started accusing a class of pesticides called neonicotinoids, or neonics for short, of killing bees. These pesticides are used as seed coatings on most corn and soybean seeds.The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is taking a new look at neonics, but it hasn't imposed any new restrictions on the pesticides.Now Minnesota is stepping ahead on its own. Last Friday, Gov. Mark Dayton ordered a variety of steps to help pollinators, including bees. Several of those steps involve restrictions on neonics.If Minnesotans want to spray neonics on plants, for instance, they now need to go through an additional step, verifying that the pesticides are needed. The state's Department of Agriculture also will increase inspections and enforcement efforts to make sure that any pesticides that are highly toxic to bees — including neonics — are being used according to regulations.Those measures, however, don't affect seed coatings, which are the most common wayMinnesota Cracks Down On Neonic Pesticides, Promising Aid To Beeshttp://wshu.org/post/minnesota-cracks-down-neonic-pesticides-promising-aid-bees
55645 as http://wshu.orgWed, 31 Aug 2016 18:18:00 +0000Minnesota Cracks Down On Neonic Pesticides, Promising Aid To BeesDan CharlesThe U.S. Department of Agriculture took a largely symbolic step to help struggling dairy farmers this week. It announced that it will buy $20 million worth of cheese and give it away to food banks. The USDA is doing this, it says, to help "reduce a cheese surplus that is at a 30-year high."Food banks were happy to hear this news. Cheese is popular among their clients and often hard to get. This government donation will have a significant impact on their operations. Dairy farmers were happy, too, hoping that this government purchase would help relieve what headlines trumpeted as a mountain of cheese that has been driving down the price they get for their milk.As we reported last week, there is in fact an oversupply of dairy products, and it's a global phenomenon. Basically, dairy farmers responded to record-high prices two years ago by expanding production, and then they were blind-sided by a sudden drop in sales to China and Russia. Too much supply and too little demand produced aAmerica's Real Mountain Of Cheese Is On Our Plateshttp://wshu.org/post/americas-real-mountain-cheese-our-plates
55403 as http://wshu.orgFri, 26 Aug 2016 09:04:00 +0000America's Real Mountain Of Cheese Is On Our PlatesDan CharlesThe nation's first "soda tax" on sugar-sweetened beverages, which went into effect in Berkeley, Calif., last year, appears to be working.According to a new study, consumption of sugary drinks — at least in some neighborhoods — is down by a whopping 20 percent.That estimate results from what Kristine Madsen, a researcher at the University of California, Berkeley's School of Public Health, calls a "perfect natural experiment." In the fall of 2014, voters in Berkeley and San Francisco, on opposite sides of the San Francisco Bay, voted on proposals to tax sugar-sweetened drinks at the rate of one cent per fluid ounce.The proposals were aimed at reducing consumption of these drinks, which are blamed for increasing rates of obesity and Type 2 diabetes.Before the votes, Madsen and a small army of collaborators began laying the groundwork for efforts to measure whether such a tax would actually work.They targeted low-income neighborhoods of each city, as well as Oakland, and carried outBerkeley's Soda Tax Appears To Cut Consumption Of Sugary Drinkshttp://wshu.org/post/berkeleys-soda-tax-appears-cut-consumption-sugary-drinks
55301 as http://wshu.orgTue, 23 Aug 2016 23:52:00 +0000Berkeley's Soda Tax Appears To Cut Consumption Of Sugary DrinksDan CharlesMilk prices are in the tank. You may not have noticed this, since prices in the supermarket have fallen only slightly. But on the farm, it's dramatic. Dairy farmers are getting about 20 percent less for their milk than they did last year; 40 percent less than when milk prices hit an all-time peak two years ago."We're losing money," says Dave Drennan, executive director of the Missouri Dairyman's Association. In Europe and Australia, dairy farmers have taken to the streets to protest their plight.Big swings in milk prices aren't new. Prices were even lower in 2006 and 2009. It's remarkable, in fact, just how volatile the dairy business is.But why? The number of cows and the amount of milk they produce don't change so quickly. These aren't wheat fields, which bad weather can destroy. And the amount of milk that people drink changes only gradually. So what makes milk prices soar and crash?One reason: Milk is not, for the most part, something that people drink anymore. In the United StatesWhy Do Milk Prices Spike And Crash? Because It's Like Oilhttp://wshu.org/post/why-do-milk-prices-spike-and-crash-because-its-oil
54473 as http://wshu.orgFri, 05 Aug 2016 18:15:00 +0000Why Do Milk Prices Spike And Crash? Because It's Like OilDan CharlesI did a little experiment the other day. I stood outside a Whole Foods Market in Washington, D.C., with two cartons of large brown eggs. One carton had the words "Non-GMO Project Verified" on it, with a little orange butterfly. It also said cage-free. The other carton had a different label; a green and white circle with the words "USDA Organic." One other crucial difference: the organic carton cost 50 cents more.I asked shoppers which carton they would buy."They both sound good," says Anna Hansen, sounding indecisive. "If it's non-GMO, great. If it's USDA organic, great. I don't know!" Then she pointed at the non-GMO carton. "This one's a little cheaper, I guess I'd go with this one."Most of the shoppers I met made the same choice, and they're joined by millions of shoppers across the country. "We've seen exponential growth since our label first launched in 2010," says Megan Westgate, Executive Director of the Non-GMO Project, which is responsible for that label on the eggs. "We'reOrganic Food Fights Back Against 'Non-GMO' Rivalhttp://wshu.org/post/organic-food-fights-back-against-non-gmo-rival
54373 as http://wshu.orgWed, 03 Aug 2016 20:30:00 +0000Organic Food Fights Back Against 'Non-GMO' RivalDan CharlesWhen agricultural extension agent Tom Barber drives the country roads of eastern Arkansas this summer, his trained eye can spot the damage: soybean leaves contorted into cup-like shapes.He's seeing it in field after field. Similar damage is turning up in Tennessee and in the "boot-heel" region of Missouri. Tens of thousands of acres are affected.This is no natural phenomenon of weather or disease. It's almost certainly the result of a crime. The disfigured leaves are evidence that a neighboring farmer sprayed a herbicide called dicamba, probably in violation of the law.Dicamba has been around for decades, and it is notorious for a couple of things: It vaporizes quickly and blows with the wind. And it's especially toxic to soybeans, even at ridiculously low concentrations.Damage from drifting pesticides isn't unfamiliar to farmers. But the reason for this year's plague of dicamba damage is unprecedented. "I've never seen anything like this before," says Bob Scott, a weed specialist fromCrime In The Fields: How Monsanto And Scofflaw Farmers Hurt Soybeans In Arkansashttp://wshu.org/post/crime-fields-how-monsanto-and-scofflaw-farmers-hurt-soybeans-arkansas
54251 as http://wshu.orgMon, 01 Aug 2016 11:00:00 +0000Crime In The Fields: How Monsanto And Scofflaw Farmers Hurt Soybeans In ArkansasDan CharlesFlour seems innocuous. We've long been warned to wash our hands after handling chicken, and to cook our hamburgers well. We wash lettuce that came straight from the field. But really, flour?This week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reminded everyone that flour is, in fact, a raw, uncooked food, just like those fresh greens. Yes, it can make you sick.The agency announced that 46 people, so far, have been sickened by E. coli that apparently contaminated flour sold by General Mills. The first case was reported seven months ago, and the outbreak continues. Tests haven't actually detected disease-causing E. coli in the company's products, but General Mills has recalled the batches of flour that included packages sold to people who got sick.But how does flour become contaminated in the first place?Charlene Wolf-Hall, a food microbiologist who is currently vice provost at North Dakota State University, says it could happen almost anywhere from wheat field to flour mill. TheCookie Dough Blues: How E. Coli Is Sneaking Into Our Forbidden Snackhttp://wshu.org/post/cookie-dough-blues-how-e-coli-sneaking-our-forbidden-snack
54092 as http://wshu.orgThu, 28 Jul 2016 17:53:00 +0000Cookie Dough Blues: How E. Coli Is Sneaking Into Our Forbidden SnackDan CharlesMost of us — and by "us," I mean urban and suburban consumers like me — don't usually get to meet the people who pick our apples, oranges or strawberries.So about a year ago, I decided to launch a series of stories about the people who harvest some of America's iconic seasonal foods. Many of these workers move from place to place, following the seasons.I visited workers who were harvesting apples in Pennsylvania, sweet potatoes and blueberries in North Carolina, and oranges and strawberries in Florida. In each place, I also talked to farmers who own those crops and hire the workers.I set a couple of rules for myself. I wouldn't contact workers through their employers, and I would not use them simply as stage props in stories about current political debates — such as the arguments over immigration, or pesticides, or minimum-wage rules. These were supposed to be stories about people and places, not government policies.I got a lot of help from several groups that provide services toInside The Lives Of Farmworkers: Top 5 Lessons I Learned On The Groundhttp://wshu.org/post/inside-lives-farmworkers-top-5-lessons-i-learned-ground
53434 as http://wshu.orgFri, 15 Jul 2016 19:13:00 +0000Inside The Lives Of Farmworkers: Top 5 Lessons I Learned On The GroundDan CharlesAfter years of bitter debate and legislative stalemate over the labeling of genetically modified ingredients, a compromise proposal sailed through Congress in breathtaking speed over the past three weeks.The House of Representative passed the measure on Thursday with solid support from both Democrats and Republicans. It now goes to the White House, where President Obama is expected to sign it.Within a few years, consumers will be able to find out whether any food in the supermarket contains GMO ingredients. But they won't necessarily see that information on the package. Instead, consumers may have to scan a "QR code" — those little square codes that you see on airline boarding passes — to get that information.Neither side in the labeling battle sounded completely satisfied. "I don't think that it's the best bill that we could have, but it's the best bill we could pass," says Richard Wilkins, a Delaware farmer who is president of the American Soybean Association, which opposes mandatoryCongress Just Passed A GMO Labeling Bill. Nobody's Super Happy About Ithttp://wshu.org/post/congress-just-passed-gmo-labeling-bill-nobodys-super-happy-about-it
53381 as http://wshu.orgThu, 14 Jul 2016 21:34:00 +0000Congress Just Passed A GMO Labeling Bill. Nobody's Super Happy About ItDan CharlesThe season for blueberries used to be short. You'd find fresh berries in the store just during a couple of months in the middle of summer.Now, though, it's always blueberry season somewhere. Blueberry production is booming. The berries are grown in Florida, North Carolina, New Jersey, Michigan and the Pacific Northwest — not to mention the southern hemisphere.But in any one location, the season is still short. And this means that workers follow the blueberry harvest, never staying in one place for long.Blueberry farming has a long tradition in Bladen County, N.C., in the southeastern corner of the state. Chris Barnhill, the owner of Blueberry Hill Farms, showed me around his farm. He's the fourth Barnhill to grow blueberries here.A couple of hundred workers move slowly down the rows of bushes. Their fingers move quickly, stripping the bushes clean. "They pick by the pound, in buckets," Barnhill explains. He gestures toward one of the workesr. "She already has got six buckets."When theFor Pickers, Blueberries Mean Easier Labor But More Upheavalhttp://wshu.org/post/pickers-blueberries-mean-easier-labor-more-upheaval
53280 as http://wshu.orgWed, 13 Jul 2016 09:07:00 +0000For Pickers, Blueberries Mean Easier Labor But More Upheaval